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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. fall — to drop
  3. spell — letters
  4. cap — a lid
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. spell — magic
  7. lie — to recline
  8. fall — to drop
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. cap — of ice
  12. ball — a dance
  13. tube — the underground
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. spell — a short time
  17. cap — a hat
  18. ball — a great time
  19. bat — the animal
  20. season — of the year
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. fall — the season
  23. tube — a container
  24. season — in sport

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com